Emergency responders, such as firemen, paramedics, and the like, often have just a few minutes between receiving an emergency call and arriving at the scene. Upon arrival, the emergency responders must then do their job, such as fighting a fire and/or rescuing the injured. As such, the emergency responder often must first find injured or endangered persons before they can remove them from harm's way and/or give them medical attention. With just a few minutes to prepare, the emergency responders are often thrust into situations wherein they must find injured persons in a completely unknown environment, or they must clear an unfamiliar structure (such as a burning building) of all persons. This is difficult to do when the plan of the building is completely unknown to the responder.
In the case of firefighters, the task is further complicated by the tendency for a fire to spread along unblocked open spaces, which act as chimneys for the hot smoke and gas. As fires tend to spread into areas of increased oxygen, it is important for firefighters to know the layout of a structure in order to most effectively do their job. In most cases, this information is gathered on site by firefighters entering the burning structure and revising their strategies on the fly.
The problem is compounded in residential structures, since the variety of design of homes is very great. Unlike commercial structures, which tend to be similar in functionally-driven design, home designs may vary greatly, and it is difficult to guess the layout of the home from a brief look at the front. For example, the number and placement of the bedrooms is impossible to accurately determine at a glance and emergency responders must manually search a burning house to make sure all of the rooms are clear. This takes time, and increases the risk of harm to both occupants and firemen.
In addition, the construction type and building materials used are also unknowns to firemen arriving at the scene. These factors influence burn rate (and thus the maximum safe time firemen can be in the building), structural integrity, whether or not toxic gasses will be evolved during combustion, and the like. All of these factors influence how long occupants may survive in the structure, which rooms are at greatest risk, how firemen should approach entry, what firefighting techniques may best be applied, and the like.
Thus, there is a need for emergency responders to gather details regarding the layout and construction details of a building or structure while en route, so that they can begin to formulate a response strategy prior to arrival. The present invention addresses this need.